First Year Gateway Course Completion Dashboard

The First Year Gateway Course Completion Dashboard shows how many students have successfully completed their required math or English gateway courses in their first academic year. This dashboard can help you determine, assess, and address any gaps in gateway course completion, a critical leading indicator of on-time credential completion.

Watch the video below to learn more about the First Year Gateway Course Completion dashboard.

Dashboard Criteria

Gateway Requirements

The Clearinghouse determines if a student is required to complete a gateway course(s) using the values reported in the institution’s PDP cohort data file. The dashboard tracks students who have a value of R for any gateway course (math and/or English) in the data file. It does not track students who are not required to complete a gateway course(s), including students seeking certificates and students who have already completed their gateway requirements prior to enrollment.

Course Completion

The dashboard searches the institution’s PDP course data file for courses flagged as English or math gateway courses to determine if students who are required to take a gateway course(s) have completed their gateway requirements. You can adjust the course completion criteria using the Gateway Completion Status buttons (see Gateway Completion Status for more information).

The dashboard calculates gateway course completion as the number of students who have completed a required gateway course(s) in their first year divided by the total number of students required to complete a gateway course.

Course Grade(s)

By default, the dashboard considers students who have earned a grade of D or above (excluding D-) or P (pass) in a gateway course as having completed the course. You can adjust the grade criteria using the English Gateway Grade and Math Gateway Grade filters (see Gateway Grade for more information). If a student attempted the same gateway course multiple times within their first year, the dashboard uses the highest grade the student earned in the course to determine if the student has completed the course and as the basis for the filters.

First Year

The dashboard determines a student’s first year based on their starting term, including summer and intersession terms, not on the institution’s academic year.

Examples

  • If a student started taking courses at the institution in the 2017 fall term, their first year would include Fall 2017, Winter 2017, Spring 2018, and Summer 2018.
  • If a student started taking courses at the institution in 2018 spring term, their first year would include Spring 2018, Summer 2018, Fall 2018, Winter 2018.

Dashboard Sections

Percent Gateway Completion by Dimension

This section displays the institution’s overall gateway completion rate across cohorts with a disaggregation by dimension (if selected). The dashboard displays the data in lines that show trends in first-year gateway course completion from one cohort to the next.

Gateway Goal Completion by Dimension

This section shows how the institution’s gateway course completion has changed from one cohort to the next with a disaggregation by dimension (if selected). The dashboard displays the data in bars. The blue part of each bar shows the percentage of students in each cohort who have completed their required gateway courses during their first year. The red part of each bar shows the percentage of students in each cohort who have not completed their required gateway courses during their first year. The shades of red and blue represent the number of students in each bar. Lower numbers of students are represented by lighter shades, and higher numbers of students are represented by darker shades.

Subgroup Gap Analysis Tab

You can use the Subgroup Gap Analysis tab to compare two student groups to each other. Select a dimension from the drop-down, then check the boxes next to the two student demographics you want to select. The dashboard displays the data in two circles with a gray bar in the center. The two circles represent the two student groups you have selected, and the gray bar represents the gateway course completion gap between them. Hover over a circle to view more details, such as the gap percentage.

Dashboard Filters

Gateway Requirement

Use this filter to include students based on which gateway course(s) they are required to take. You can select English Required Only, Math Required Only, and/or Math and English Required.

You can use this filter in combination with the Gateway Status dimension. Be sure to select the Completed All Required Gateway Course(s) button if you disaggregate by gateway status (see Gateway Completion Status for more information).

Gateway Completion Status

The Gateway Completion Status buttons adjust the course completion criteria. You can use these buttons combined with the Gateway Requirement filter to view English and math gateway course completion separately or together.

  • Completed English Gateway Course: Considers students who have completed their required English gateway courses as having completed their gateway courses (regardless of their math gateway requirements).
  • Completed Math Gateway Course: Considers students who have completed their required math gateway courses as having completed their gateway courses (regardless of their English gateway requirements).
  • Completed All Required Gateway Course(s): Considered students who have completed all of their required gateway courses (math, English, or both) as having completed their gateway courses. This filter might include different completion statuses depending on each student’s individual gateway requirements.

Examples

  • To see how many of the students who are required to take English gateway courses have completed their English gateway courses in their first year (regardless of their math gateway requirements), select both the English Required Only and Math and English Required options from the Gateway Requirement filter to include all students who are required to take English gateway courses. Then select the Completed English Gateway Course button. The dashboard will show how many/what percentage of students who are required to take English gateway courses have completed their English gateway courses in their first year.
  • To see how many of the students who are required to take math gateway courses have completed their math gateway courses in their first year (regardless of their English gateway requirements), select both the Math Required Only and Math and English Required options from the Gateway Requirement filter to include all students who are required to take math gateway courses. Then select the Completed Math Gateway Course button. The dashboard will show what percentage of students who are required to take math gateway courses have completed their English gateway courses in their first year.
  • To see how many of the students who are required to take both math and English gateway courses have completed only their English gateway courses in their first year, select the Math and English Required option from the Gateway Requirement filter. Then select the Completed English Gateway Course button. The dashboard will show what percentage of the students who are required to take both math and English gateway courses have completed their English gateway courses in their first year.
  • To see how many of the students who are required to take both math and English gateway courses have completed only their math gateway courses in their first year, select the Math and English Required option from the Gateway Requirement filter. Then select the Completed Math Gateway Course button. The dashboard will show how what percentage of the students who are required to take both math and English gateway courses have completed their math gateway courses in their first year.
  • To see how many of the students who are required to take both math and English gateway courses have completed both math and English gateway courses in their first year, select the Math and English Required option from the Gateway Requirement filter. Then select the Completed All Required Gateway Course(s) button. The dashboard will show how what percentage of the students who are required to take both math and English gateway courses have completed both math and English gateway courses in their first year.

Gateway Grade

You can use the English Gateway Grade and Math Gateway Grade filters to set your own grade criteria. The dashboard will consider a gateway course completed only if the student earned a grade within the option you selected.

Example

  • If you select the C and above (A/B/C) option from the English Gateway Grade filter, the dashboard will only consider students who have earned a grade of C or above in their English gateway courses as having completed their English courses.

You can set different criteria for math and English gateway courses, but make sure your selections do not conflict with each other, causing an invalid result.

Examples

  • If you select an option from the Math Gateway Grade filter in combination with the Completed English Gateway Course button, the dashboard will display no data because it will not consider English gateway course completion for students who are not required to complete English gateway courses.
  • If you select an option from the English Gateway Grade filter in combination with the Completed Math Gateway Course button, the dashboard will display no data because the dashboard will not consider math gateway course completion for students who are not required to complete math gateway courses.

Use Cases

Using the GPA Range Dimension

Students with higher GPAs are more likely to have completed their required gateway courses. You can use the GPA Range dimension to view grade distribution among students who have not completed their gateway course requirements. You can also view overall trends by cohort, which can tell you if larger percentages of students have been completing requirements in recent years.

The dashboard displays the data in columns. The color of each column indicates the frequency of the grade ranges by student count. The darker the color, the more frequent the grade range. The height of the column indicates the percentage of students who are not meeting the threshold.

Examining Gateway Course Completion and Preparation

You can use this dashboard to view the intersectionality between gateway course completion and preparation for gateway courses.

Example

  • To see the gap in gateway course completion between students who are not ready for gateway math and those who are ready for gateway math, select the Math Gateway Status dimension on the Subgroup Gap Analysis tab. You can use filters in combination with dimensions to further refine the data.

Impact of Course Type on Gateway Course Completion Rate

Watch the video below to learn how to use the First Year Gateway Course Completion dashboard to determine the impact of the type of required gateway course (math and/or English) on first-year students’ gateway course completion.

Relationship between Academic Performance and Gateway Course Completion

Watch the video below to learn how to use the First Year Gateway Course Completion dashboard to understand the relationship between students’ academic performance and the completion of their required gateway courses.

Help

If you need help using the First Year Gateway Course Completion dashboard, email us at PDPService@studentclearinghouse.org.

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